6.  The applicant, Ms Janet Alder, is a British national living in Lancashire. The case concerns the death of her brother, Mr Alder, while he was in the custody of Humberside police on 1 April 1998. Mr Alder was of Nigerian origin, he was born in 1960 and he had two children.
7.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, are summarised below. A more detailed description can be found in the Court’s decision on the admissibility of this case (Alder v. the United Kingdom (dec.), no. 42078/02, 14 December 2010).
8.  In the early hours of 1 April 1998 Mr Alder was assaulted at a nightclub and transported by police officers to hospital. He was disruptive at the hospital and aggressive to police officers and he was arrested for breach of the peace. He was transported in a police van to Humberside police station.
9.  On arrival, he was unconscious. He was dragged into the police station and placed face down on the floor of the custody unit. His body was inert. Blood dripped from his mouth. His trousers and underwear were around his knees and he was doubly incontinent. From arrival until his death, he was unconscious and his breathing was audibly slow and laboured. The custody unit was a small prisoner/reception area through which various police officers circulated while Mr Alder was on the floor. Various cameras recorded constantly (image and sound) in the custody suite. His handcuffs were removed approximately 2 minutes after his arrival.
10.  Some ten minutes after his arrival, the police officers realised that he had stopped breathing. Their efforts and those of the ambulance personnel, to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. He was later pronounced dead.
11. On the same day the Humberside police began an extensive murder investigation into the assault on Mr Alder in the night club. While the pathologist indicated by 2 April that that assault had not caused Mr Alder’s death, he did not formally report until 29 April at which point Humberside police handed their investigation file to West Yorkshire police. The latter had also begun a death in custody investigation on 1 April 1998.
12.  On 8 April 1998 the relevant police officers were notified that consideration was being given to bringing disciplinary proceedings against them and they were later suspended from duty. Expert reports received during this period disagreed on the issue of causation namely, whether medical treatment at the police station would have changed the outcome.
13.  In June and August 1998 the West Yorkshire police sent investigation reports to the Police Complaints Authority (“PCA”) and to the Crown Prosecution Service (“CPS”): the reports made numerous criticisms and recommendations and highlighted the above-noted causation problem.
14.  In August 1999 the relevant police officers were charged with misconduct in public office and the CPS postponed the prosecution pending the outcome of the Inquest.
15.  The Inquest began in July 2000 and took extensive witness and expert evidence. On 24 August 2000 the Inquest jury found that the relevant injury to Mr Alder had been sustained either in the police van or in the custody suite and that he had been “killed unlawfully”. The relevant officers challenged this verdict on judicial review and, on 9 April 2001, the High Court rejected their application.
16.  The CPS then resumed its consideration of criminal charges reviewing, notably, their and other medical experts’ views on whether earlier intervention by the police officers could have saved Mr Alder’s life. In March 2002 the trial judge allowed the CPS to add a count of gross negligence manslaughter to the indictment.
17.  On 21 June 2002, at the close of the prosecution case, the trial judge dismissed the gross negligence manslaughter charge, on the grounds of lack of causation and the charge of misconduct in public office, on the ground that there was no evidence of “deliberately overlooking” the risk that Mr Alder was in need of medical care. All officers were acquitted and their suspension was lifted. Further to the Attorney-General’s request for an advisory opinion on the elements of the offence of misconduct in public office, on 7 April 2004 the Court of Appeal confirmed the trial judge’s opinion.
18.  The PCA proposed the pursuit of neglect of duty charges against the relevant officers but the Deputy Chief Constable Clark of Humberside police did not consider that disciplinary charges were required. The PCA responded by directing disciplinary charges to be brought against the relevant officers (section 93(3) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984).
19.  In January 2003 the officers were officially charged with the disciplinary offence of failing to carry out their duties with due promptness and diligence. Following a disciplinary hearing, on 24 June 2003 the disciplinary charges were dismissed against all officers.
20.  In April 2004 the Home Secretary required the newly formed Independent Police Complaints Commission (“IPCC”) to review the events leading up to and following the death of Mr Alder, including considering whether or not the manner in which the investigation was conducted had impacted on the later criminal and disciplinary proceedings.
21.  On 27 February 2006 the IPCC issued an extensive report. It was highly critical of the conduct of the arresting officers and of officers in the custody suite, of the lack of independence and effectiveness of the Humberside and West Yorkshire investigations, of the initial decision not to pursue disciplinary charges until obliged to do so by the PCA as well as of the disciplinary proceedings pursued. It identified “major systemic failures” notably, that the failure by officers to assist Mr Alder was largely due to assumptions they had made based on negative racial stereotypes and that there had been a major failure in the police disciplinary system.
22.  On the same day the Humberside police issued a statement indicating the improvements, particularly as regards the racism criticisms, which had taken place since Mr Alder’s death. Soon thereafter the Chief Constable of Humberside police issued a letter of apology addressed directly to the applicant.
23.  Three civil actions have been pursued as regards Mr Alder’s death. The first was begun by Mr Alder’s son: it was settled in March 2007 on a confidential basis. The second was issued by the applicant against several defendants: in October 2008 she settled with the PCA for GBP 20,000 and it would appear that the remainder of that action is ongoing. The third was issued by both the applicant and Mr Alder’s sons against several defendants alleging that they had failed to preserve evidence and investigate the death: it would appear that this action has been discontinued, at least in part.